Thousands in Danbury area still in the dark

Updated 10:39 pm, Monday, October 31, 2011

DANBURY -- Thousands of area residents who lost electricity during the weekend's devastating snowstorm huddled through another chilly night Monday.

Roadways throughout the area remained blocked by downed trees and some towns, including Newtown and Redding, reported power outages of nearly 100 percent late Monday, more than 48 hours after the snow first began falling.

Municipal officials, who said their public works crews were ready to clear downed trees, voiced their frustration at the lack of utility company personnel who provided assistance.

Local crews aren't allowed to clear trees that are intertwined with power lines until utility companies have inspected the cables, according to Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra.

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"Connecticut Light & Power hasn't assigned us enough crews to make a difference," she said. "Our first priority is to get roads open, but we still have a number of roads closed because of power lines in the trees."

Some officials said they were told by the utility company that it could be from one to two weeks before power is fully restored to some communities.

"At this point, we are just waiting on Connecticut Light & Power," Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said. "We meet with them every morning and express our frustration at the slow pace of restoration."

Boughton said while most of Danbury's main roads were open for traffic, at least 100 streets Monday afternoon were down to one lane because of downed trees and power lines.

More than 60 people took refuge at the War Memorial, the city's emergency shelter, Sunday night, Boughton said, adding that nonpotable water to flush toilets will be available from 3 to 8 p.m. for the next several days at the Miry Brook, Beaver Brook and King Street firehouses.

On Monday evening, President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration for the state of Connecticut, authorizing federal agencies to provide the state with food, water, emergency power and debris removal.

"This is a first-stage declaration," said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who toured much of the state by helicopter Monday. "There are other stages which we will continue to work on which would allow for reimbursement for expenditures for state and local governments, but this is a good first start."

Attorney General George Jepsen is enacting price controls on fuel until Nov. 7, Malloy said Monday evening, because of the long lines at the gas stations that still have power.

There is no fuel shortage, Malloy said, but because open stations are getting more customers, they are running out more quickly.

More fuel was expected to arrive in the state Monday night, he said.

Malloy said he will sign an executive order to extend the deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 8 local elections until noon on Nov. 7.

New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge said the town served more than 750 hot meals Sunday night at the high school, which also serves as the town's emergency shelter.

Redding Police Chief Doug Fuchs said that more than 95 to 97 percent of the town's residents and businesses were still without power late Monday afternoon.

He said that routes 53 and 58 were still closed south of Route 107, but he hoped the streets would be open by Wednesday.

"We know that we still have people who can't get out of their houses or neighborhoods and that's our first priority," Fuchs said. "We are asking all residents if they are trapped in their homes to give us a call."

Bethel First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said utility crews were making progress restoring electrical service Monday. While nearly 92 percent of Bethel homes were without power Sunday, that number was reduced by Monday afternoon.

"Last night, I drove through the downtown and for the first time in 33 years it was completely pitch black except for the occasional flicker of a candle through a window," he said. "It was a very eerie sight."

The scene that played out in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene -- utility crews from across the country coming to Connecticut to help pick up the pieces after a devastating storm -- unfolded again across the state Monday.

Utility crews from as far as California and British Columbia, Canada, joined local crews trying to hammer away at a stunning number of outages that left communities reeling and some residents looking ahead to a week or more in the dark.

Monday, the number of outages was slowly receding. At 8:30 p.m, 727,333 Connecticut Light & Power customers remained without power.

Most of the outages can be blamed on excessive tree damage, CL&P spokeswoman Katie Blint said.

Even as the number of outages began to drop, the total Monday was still higher than it was at any point following Tropical Storm Irene. Sixty-seven shelters and 49 warming/ charging stations were open around the state Monday, Malloy said.

CL&P has crews coming from across the country to join in the restoration effort and there should be more than 1,200 crews in the state by Thursday, CL&P President Jeff Butler said Monday evening during a news briefing alongside Malloy. As of Monday night, there were 599 crews in the state, 185 of which were tree crews.

"Today, we'll continue with the priorities across the service territory, in terms of road closings on both the town level and state level, focusing on getting those roads open," Butler said. "Transmission, certainly in the northwestern and the center-western portion of the state, is certainly a priority."

Butler urged residents to stay away from downed power lines, and report any power loss or damaged wires to the utility company. "Don't assume they know about it," Malloy said.

There were 38 towns and cities with 100 percent of CL&P customers in the dark Monday, including New Fairfield, Kent and Roxbury.

Most of the northwest part of the state was in the dark. There were 95 percent of people without power in Newtown, 88 percent in Brookfield, 78 percent in Bethel and 72 percent in Ridgefield.